The present invention relates generally to automated dispensing devices, and, more particularly to an apparatus for applying cheese to individual pizza shells, such as at a high volume producer of frozen pizzas.
Pizza making is generally a labor intensive undertaking. Pizza crusts or shells are produced from a dough substance, seasoned tomato sauce is added and spread evenly over the shell, and other toppings such as cheese, meats, and vegetables are added according to personal taste. In many situations, it is advantageous to produce pizzas as fast as possible. This is the case in the manufacture of frozen pizzas.
It is simply not cost effective to manually produce individual frozen pizzas. In order for the manufacturer to achieve a suitable profit margin, frozen pizzas must be produced rapidly with as little human intervention as possible. Manufacturers have incorporated many different devices in the pizza making operation to automate certain tasks. Chief among these tasks is the addition of toppings. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,525,374 described an automated pizza meat dispenser; U.S. Pat. No. 4,771,726 describes a an automated device for adding a flowable material, such as pizza sauce, to a food target; U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,097 describes a food ingredient dispensing device; U.S. Pat. No. 5,171,367 describes an apparatus for applying pizza sauce to a pizza; and, U.S.
Pat. No. 5,523,101 describes a multi-purpose applicator.
It is also important for the different automated dispensers to operate as efficiently and quickly as possible. Therefore, it is advantageous to design a dispenser which functions continuously or does not pause to add during addition of the toppings to the shell.
Furthermore, it is important to spread the toppings evenly over the shell. If the toppings are not spread evenly over the shell, the pizza will become unbalanced, and it will have an awkward appearance and perhaps cook unevenly. Therefore, an automated dispenser must spread the toppings uniformly over the shell.
Therefore, there is a need for a continuous apparatus for adding a food material to a shell for use in the pizza making industry described herein.
The present invention is directed toward a food material dispensing apparatus and method for adding a topping to a target food. The apparatus comprises in one aspect a first hopper and a first food material distributing system. The first hopper is adapted for receiving a predetermined amount of the food material at an inlet and delivering the food material through an outlet toward a target location. The inlet generally has a larger cross-sectional area than the outlet so that the hopper has a funnel-like structure for directing the food material toward a concentrated area.
The first food distributing system is for spreading or distributing the food material over the a target food. The food distributing system includes a motor, a curved conduit and a flexible, rotary shaft. The motor is positioned near the inlet of the hopper and at a horizontal distance from the hopper. A proximal end of the curved conduit is releaseably connected to the motor. The curved conduit is adapted to enter the interior of the hopper near the inlet so that and to have a distal end of the curved conduit that is positioned near the hopper""s outlet.
The flexible, rotary shaft has a first end and a second end. The first end is operatively connected to the motor so that the motor transfers a rotary motion to the flexible, rotary shaft. The flexible, rotary shaft passes through the curved conduit so that the second end is positioned near the distal end of the curved conduit.
In another aspect, the invention achieves an apparatus and a method for dispensing food material in an accurate and precise manner upon individual target foods that are sequentially arranged upon a continuously moving conveyor belt that does not stop. In this aspect, the food material is first dispensed upon a stationary transfer belt. The transfer belt is then advanced and synchronized with an individual target food on the conveyor belt. The individual target food becomes vertically aligned with the dispensed food material on the transfer belt and the dispensed food material is transferred progressively and gravitationally to the target food.
Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following specification taken in conjunction with the following drawing drawings.